ISO CERTIFICATION: A Stamp Of Quality

It comes across as no surprise that solution providers today are increasingly
opting to go for the coveted ISO certification. And why not? It has a universal
appeal and helps improve various processes in a company, based on customer
needs. Further, it increases customer confidence in the supplier's product
quality and delivery commitments, in addition to helping solution providers
penetrate the global market, thus making the cash registers ring louder.

Competition is the name of the game and staying ahead is the key for survival'.
Like all else in the industry, this rule applies to the solutions provider
community too. Against the face of growing business, and hence increased
competition, solution providers have begun to realize the need to provide their
customers a differentiation factor in terms of service, products, price and
technology.

One of the many ways to do that, they believe, is acquiring various kinds of
process-related certifications like the ISO. While these certifications by
themselves do not help increase business, they certainly seem to act as a buffer
to help companies get an edge over competition.

What is ISO?

ISO stands for 'same' in Greek. The International Organization issued
the standard for Standardization, an international agency founded in 1946 in
Geneva Switzerland, to promote the development of international standards and
facilitate the exchange of goods and services worldwide. It is composed of
member bodies from over 90 countries. The US is a member through the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Mukesh Infoserve Chennai-based Mukesh Infoserve went for an ISO certification as it believed that this step would help it in fine-tuning various processes based on customer needs and make them more efficient. It took help from an external consultant for procuring the certification and spent about Rs 70,000 as payment towards the consultant and the audit firm. Having obtained the certification, the firm will now be audited every six months and that will cost them about Rs 20,000 each time. According to Mukundh B, Director, Mukesh Infoserve, "Once we decided to go for an ISO certification, we took stock of the different departments and activities that had to be streamlined for certification. Then we called in the consultant and with his help, framed the process, manuals and all necessary procedures for getting the ISO." Commenting on the advantages of obtaining an ISO, he said, "In terms of business, we have grown at 100% after procuring ISO. It has helped us to manage the growth, especially volume end of the business in a big way. When we tell our customers we are an ISO certified organization, they are confident of the process we follow. This puts us in a rank above the others." Green Vision An urge to obtain edge over its competitors and improve overall organizational productivity and efficiency prompted New Delhi-based Green Vision to go in for an ISO certification. It became one of the first GIDs in India to have its marketing, service and support procedures ISO certified in 1999, with help from an external consultant. The entire procedure was a seven-month exercise before the company had the preliminary audit and then the final certification. The consultant was appointed to have the written down procedures, after side meetings with department heads and the individual inputs. The entire exercise included drafting various procedures for the ISO Quality certification and many internal meetings to arrive at a foolproof option. According to Saket Kapur, MD, Green Vision, "The non-tangible benefits of the exercise were evident from the existing and prospective customers who thought of us as a more quality conscious and serious player. Certain businesses, which required ISO as pre-qualification became accessible. Moreover the written down procedures and processes brought in more accountability with the working staff." While it is very difficult to assign the increased business solely to getting the ISO certification, Saket believes that the certification was certainly a necessary step to gain elevation in business. "The certification lasts for a year and needs regular audit to continue with the same. The costs vary with certifying agencies," he adds. Infinite Computers Solutions Bangalore-based Infinite Computer Solutions went in for an ISO 9001:2000 certification in March 2002 and were re-certified in May 2005. Infinite used an external audit agency and spent an initial one-time cost of approximately about Rs 6 lakh. Subsequently, about Rs 1 lakh a year is spent for the process. The validity of the certification is for a period of three years and the renewal costs are about Rs 6-8 lakh. According to Upinder Zutshi, CEO, Infinite Computer Solutions, "ISO certifications have yielded rich dividends in terms of tangible and intangible benefits. The list of intangibles is impressive. The significant change is in terms of mindset. The organization-wide quality culture has united people in quest for excellence. The tangible benefits are measurable process improvements, which has translated into productivity gains and significant time and cost savings by the virtue of attaining lower defect rates and lesser rework." Upinder feels that ISO has a universal appeal and is the bedrock of most QMS in the IT industry today. He believes that ISO has helped Infinite Solutions mature its QMS particularly with respect to document control, audits, senior management reviews and vendor management. "We wanted to leverage 'Quality Certifications' as a strength and differentiator to aid our sales efforts. From an organizational perspective we want to use this as one of our major continual improvements process. Quality is institutionalized at Infinite. So adhering to the certification process is a given for us," he adds.

The ISO 9000 series was published in 1987 and revised in 1994. Its
implementation and certification is being applied to a wide range of operations,
industries and services. Even school districts, hospitals, hotels and sports
organizations are seeking ISO certification to upgrade their services or
products. In many cases, compliance to ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003 is required by
customers or government bodies in their purchasing specifications.

ISO 9001 is required for companies that largely design as well as produce and
distribute their products or services. ISO 9002 is meant for companies that
produce and distribute their products or services. ISO 9003 is required for
companies that carry out only final inspection and testing. ISO 14000 is the new
Environmental Management Standard (EMS).

Why obtain ISO?

The ISO 9000 series appears to be sweeping the world and is rapidly becoming
the most important quality standard. Several companies in over 100 countries
have already adopted it, and many more are in the process of doing so. This is
mainly because it controls quality, saves money and helps to increase customer
confidence in a company.

ISO has an universal appeal and its new model released in
2000 is well suited to IT compared to the 1994 version. Companies today believe
that the right kind of interpretation of this model and adherence to the same in
letter and spirit enables them to reap the maximum benefits.

Certifications like the ISO are also believed to help improve
various processes in a company based on customer needs and thus increase process
efficiency. A need to provide quality service to the customer, improve
performance and ensure that work processes remain uncluttered, are among the
other reasons that prompt companies to opt for an ISO certification.

Solution providers believe that in order to provide
significant value to the customer, they need to constantly improve as
organizations. This success is contingent on the ability to service customers
effectively and efficiently and requires robust processes and rigorous quality
standards. Therefore quality certification is just not business driven, but
driven by a passion to be the best.

To be the best in the business, solutions providers have to
continuously improve and benchmark themselves with the best-in-class quality
organization. Certifications are therefore an external validation of quality
standards. Most solution providers believe in the need to leverage on these
quality certifications as a strength and differentiator to aid sales efforts.
They hope to use this as a major benchmark for continual improvements processes.

According to Rajeev Arora of TQ Vision, a certification
provider based in Delhi, "A certification to ISO 9000 QMS

increases the customer's confidence in the supplier's quality and delivery
commitments. Since ISO 9000 QMS is universally recognized, it helps companies to
penetrate new global markets, while also improving their product/service
performance."

Ravinder Verma of the Catalyst Group, a consulting
organization having experts in Quality, HR, Finance, IT, Management and
Industry, feels that an ISO certification optimizes customer relations
management and enforces continual improvement of effectiveness of all processes.

"ISO certification helps in standardization of key
processes in a company. Once they are defined, ISO encourages organizations to
focus on continual improvement. It also increases the customer confidence in the
company," asserts Kapil Nakra of Whizlabs, another company that helps
organizations to get quality certifications.

Getting an ISO certification

All requirements of ISO are generic and are intended to be applicable to all
organizations, regardless of type, size and product provided. Companies need to
define, document and implement the requirements of the standard ISO 9001:2000 in
order to get certified.

Companies that decide to go for an ISO certification first
need to consult an individual quality auditor or a firm of quality consultants
who are well versed in ISO matters. They need to seek a detailed orientation for
understanding and thereby adequately meeting the requirements of the quality
system standards.

Cost of getting an ISO The cost of obtaining an ISO certification depends on the company's number of employees and offices. For a company that has a single office and has total number of 25 employees, the certification body will charge between Rs 40,000-60,000 and the consultant will charge another Rs 50,000. The total amount would thus be about Rs 1.2-1.5 lakh, including fees to the certified bodies and consultancy charges for the initial ISO certification.  Consultancy, training, certification fee (includes application fee, audit fee, certificate or license fee) would be the major areas of expenditure besides fee for Calibration of Devices. The same cycle of fees is repeated during renewal every three years.

The top brass of an organization planning to go in for ISO
certification should first identify under what ISO category their organization
falls viz: ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003. They need to share the commitment to seeking
ISO certification with all levels of management, choose an ISO representative
and also decide whether to use a consultant or not.

There ought to be some system already in existence either
written or oral with regard to adherence to quality of the product produced by
the industry/industry, be it a produce or service. The organization then has to
review the existing oral/documented Quality System, identify procedural areas
for modification, change or deletion, and decide on what needs to be implemented
and how to format the ISO 9000 required Quality Manual.

Once that is done, different members of the organization
involved in the procedure need to agree on a feasible deadline for a date for
inviting the certification body for conducting the necessary audit for getting
the ISO certification. They have to then make a documented report on Planning
and Implementation of Procedures for ISO Certification.

With the help of the report on Planning and Implementation,
they require to identify the appropriate personnel/ departments for working on
the procedures required to have a compliant Quality Manual to review and update
the QA Manual(s) in order to achieve thoroughness, completeness, cohesion and
compliance with the ISO standard.

It is advisable to produce a flow chart to illustrate the
interrelation of all the procedures. The company also has to arrange for
training the appropriate personnel at all levels of the organization on the
procedures, detailed in the Quality Manual, and the quality concepts of ISO 9000
and could use external training for the Internal auditor.

Don't miss on auditing

The organization needs to conduct internal quality audits at pre-agreed
intervals to verify compliance with quality procedures. It is the main 'Make
sure you are still doing it and not relaxing' requirement of ISO. The
organization has to initiate corrective actions on any deviation/defaults found
and conduct periodical Management Review Meetings to review the performance of
the quality system and review the Internal Quality Audit, the corrective action
and preventive action process. These meetings can be used as the driving force
for continuous improvement/quality planning.

Now is the time to bring in the 'Registrar of the
Certifying Body' to conduct the certification audit. The certification audit,
which is a very detailed audit procedure, goes in depth right from auditing the
management team to the line team. All the clauses are thoroughly checked as to
whether the employees have understood the concepts well.

In the next phase of auditing, surveillance would be carried
out every year after the certification is completed. This is done to check
whether the company is following the procedures and systems as documented and is
there any sort of improvement in the entire process. The final phase is the
re-certification audit, which is done after three years of certification audit,
and the auditing would be the same as in the case of certification audit.

Certifying bodies like TUV Rheinland, TUV Sutherland, KPMG,
BVQI, could help obtain certification. After selecting the certifying body, the
company has to give information to the certifying body about its nature if
business, number of employees and its geographical presence. Depending on the
size of the organization, an ISO certification can be obtained three to 18
months after the process has begun.

An ISO certificate is issued for a period of three years,
after which it has to be renewed. The certifying body conducts periodic audits
every six, nine or 12 months during this time, depending upon the size and
operations of the organization to make sure that they are adhering to the ISO
certification standards.

Befitting from ISO certification

Certifications like the ISO undoubtedly turn out to be beneficial to
companies that opt for them. These could be both tangible and intangible
benefits. "The tangible benefit is that customers are not calling us like
they used to for not attending to their requests. The intangible benefit is that
it has eased the tense work atmosphere that used to exist in the office. The
market perception of the company certainly goes up and people feel our company
is more professional and so more reliable," says V Anand, Director, Raksha
Technologies, Chennai.

"ISO certifications have yielded rich dividends in terms
of tangible and intangible benefits. They have prompted people to come together
and unite in a quest to provide excellence. People are committed to make
improvements in processes, standards and work methods," feels Upinder
Zutshi, CEO, Infinite Computer Solutions, Bangalore. He also added that the
tangible benefits are measurable process improvements, which have translated
into productivity gains and significant time and cost savings by the virtue of
attaining lower defect rates and lesser rework.

"Quality is a given for us and we have our metrics on
tangibles like effort variance/schedule variance/productivity/customer
satisfaction/repeat orders/post release defect density etc plotted every
quarter. We have trends, which can be attributed to the composite influence of
all the process initiatives in this company," says Upinder. He explains
that his is one of the fastest growing IT companies, with revenues in excess of
USD 100 million in just 6 years since inception.

One of the key elements of Infinite's success and growth
story has been its ability to satisfy customers with superior quality of
service, which has ensured steady growth, repeat business and positive customer
referrals.

Indicating that the non-tangible results of an ISO
certification were evident from the existing and prospective customers who
considered them as a quality conscious and serious player, Saket Kapur, MD,
Green Vision, New Delhi says, "Certain businesses, which required ISO as
pre-qualification became accessible. Our written down procedures and processes
brought in more accountability with the working staff. It is very difficult to
assign the increased business solely on account of ISO certification, but yes it
was necessary step to gain elevation in business."

Of a similar opinion is Mukundh B, Director, Mukesh Infoserve
of Chennai. "In terms of business, we have grown at 100% after procuring
ISO. The contribution of ISO to this is towards managing the growth when the
volume increases. When we tell customers that we are an ISO certified
organization, they are confident of the process we follow. This puts as in a
rank above others," says Mukundh.

Currently contemplating on an ISO certification is another
solution provider, Chennai—based Futurenet Technologies. The company's MD, L
Ashok notes, "An ISO will provide us with a tangible benefit of greater
customer satisfaction. As far as our intangible benefits are concerned, we hope
to gain greater business form our existing customers, since they would have a
higher satisfaction level."

This would also enable it to get more customer references.
Ashok admits that it would be difficult to quantify how much of growth increase
the certification would prompt, but is nonetheless confident that increase it
will.

"The tangible benefits of opting for an ISO
certification are that our process and systems have improved wherein there is a
certain maturity level built in for each and every function that undergoes ISO
audit. As far as intangible benefits are concerned, the ISO certification gives
us a good brand value in terms of old and new customers, prospective employees
and also to employees currently working with the company," emphasizes Moses
Lawrence, Director, Computer Factory, Chennai. The company's ROI after having
gone in for ISO certification is at 10%.

Go, get the ISO

Players who are planning to go for a certification say that they are putting
in all efforts to comply with the quality requirements of such a certification,
so that they stand to gain in terms of customer mind share.

Undoubtedly therefore, a company upon certification agrees to
adhere to the codes of quality. This is while committing to ontinuously manage
and maintain its systems in accordance with the certification best practices and
standards.

This is based on the belief that ultimately certification is
an assurance that the organization's systems and procedures are more reliable
and customer-oriented. It also is an indication of distinctions that are
sustained through rigorous assessments, strict implementation strategies and
continual enterprise-wide audits.

In the long run, it appears that certified companies enjoy
enhanced customer and partner confidence, resulting in a competitive edge over
non-certified companies. This translates into a very positive impact on their
bottom line.

SUBBALAKSHMI
BM in Bangalore with inputs from Zia Askari in New Delhi and S
Gopikrishna in Chennai

Help for getting ISO certification

Know more about agencies and consultants to contact when you
go for an ISO certification.

1. Whizlabs Software

This company boasts of helping over 4 lakh people in getting certified. It
has companies like Cisco, Accenture and Infosys under its belt, which have
integrated Whizlabs Solutions for pre-employment, skill assessment and training
effectiveness to measure and improve skills of their employees. Whizlabs
offerings have been endorsed by organizations such as TheServerside.com,
JavaRanch, CertCities and Addison Wesley publications.

Contact: Kapil Nakra, Tel: 011-51589170-72, Mobile:
9810202870

2. The Catalyst Group

The Catalyst Group is a consulting organization, having experts in quality,
HR, finance, IT, management and industry. They have over 10 years experience of
working as a catalyst for better growth and productivity as well as delivering
certification as a by product of quality initiative. It has clients in IT,
garments, printing, finance, automobile and service industry.

Contact: Ravinder Verma, Tel: 9810073708

3. DNV

Established in 1864, DNV is an independent foundation and a leading
international provider of services for managing risk. It has about 300 offices
in 100 different countries. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, DNV's global
network is linked by efficient IT, enabling them to create value for customers
in a coherent and consistent manner worldwide. The consultant operates in
multiple industries internationally, but they have a strong market presence and
a large customer base in four industries. They are maritime, oil and gas,
process and transportation. Contact: DNV, #7 Haudin Road, Off Ulsoor Road, 103
Belview, Bangalore-560042, Tel: 080-25580284/ 25321936/ 25550646

4. TQ Vision

The company guides and facilitates organizations to define, document,
implement and continually

improve their working systems based on quality principles and international
standards. They include ISO 9000 QMS, ISO/TS 16949 QMS for automotive sector,
ISO 14000 EMS, SA 8000, HACCP for food industry, OHSAS 18000, ISO/TS 29001 QMS
AS 9100 QMS for aerospace industry. It specializes in turnkey projects to
achieve certification/ registration.

The firm's consultants are based at 18 cities in India besides having a
presence in Kathmandu, Auckland and the US.

Contact: Rajeev Arora, New Delhi, Tel: 9811231956

Independent consultants for certification:

(a) S Ramachandran

Contact: 'Kaveri' Apartment, Third Floor, Flat #9, 18, Sundarajan
Street, Abhiramapuram, Chennai-600018

Tel: 044-24994497/ 9840745059

(b) Kumar

Tel: 9841537183